Steering apparatus



c. YCHIRISTOFFERSVENY July 20 1926.

' STEERING APPARATUS Filed March 10, 1921 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 20, 1926. 1,593,328

C. CHRISTOFFERSEN sTEBRING APPARATUS Filed March 10, 1921 7 shets-sh et 5 fare fa,-

July 20 1926.

c. CHRISTOFFERSEN STEERING APPARATUS Filed March 10, 1921 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Zara/0r Jul 20 1926. 1,593,328

c. CHNI$TCFFERSEN STEERING APPARATUS Filed Marh 10, 1921 v sheets-sne'etf-s Inn;

lake)?! W H\ Patented July 20, 1925.

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CHRISTOFFER CHRISTOFFERSEN, (2F ELIZABETH, NEW] JERSEY, ASSIG-NGR TO BETH:- LEEEM SHIPBUILDING CORYORATION, LTD, A COEPGRATION OF DELAIWARE.

STEERING APPARATUS.

Application filed March 10, 1921 The present invention relates to steering apparatus for vessels, particularly to that type ol steering apparatus in which the rudcc" is actuated by hydraulic pressure developed by a pump and acting upon one or more pistons of a steering engine connected to the rudder post, the flow oi the fluid under pressure from the pump to the steering engine being mmtrollcd. irom adistant point, as the pilot house.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved steering engine having new] \'al-.'e means for controlling the flow (it fluid under pressure to the cylinders, having novel means for connecting the pis- "ions and the rudder yoke and numerous additional new features rendering it simple in construction and eiiicientin operation. Another object oi the invention is to pro ride a coiiveuient hand controlling means tor the steering engine which, though normally disconnected from the steering engine, may be readily connected thereto whenever the means for controllin the engine from a distant point has become disabled or temporarily out of order. A turthcr object of the invention is to proyide an api jaratus of the class indicated I11 which the motive fluid is put under pressure by a reciprocating pump driven by steam from the main boiler oi the vessel thereby avoiding the use of a rotary pump such as is usually provided and its special driving turbine or other means.

Other objects ot the invention and advantages will become apparent as it is disclosed in the following description and in the accompanying drawings in which:

l igure 1 illustrates in broken lines portious ot a vessel as viewed from the side, showing the steering apparatus in full lines;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the steam pump and the conduits leading therefrom. showing the bypass and valve;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the steering glue:

Figure 4. is a side view of the same, fluid conducting pipes being omitted for sake of clearnes's; I

Figure is an end view:

Figure 6 is a side view of the steering en-- gi1;e.par"ts being on'iitted sothat the arrangement of fluid coruluits can be clearly discerned; I

the the Serial No. 451,271.

Figure 7 is a section on the line 77 of .l igure 3;

Figure 8 is a side view of the controlling valve casing to a larger scale;

Figure 9 is an end view of the same; Figure 10 is a section on line 10-10 of Figure 8 and also showing certain oi? the fluid conduits connected to the valve casing;

Figure ll is a plan view of the valve casing; and.

Figures in and it?) are sections on lines lt2----12 and. 13-13 respectively oi? l igure 11. The hull of the vessel in which the hydraulic steering mechanism is installed is indicated at 10 in the drawings, this vessel having a rudder 11 provided with rudder post 12 at the stern, and a pilot house 13 toward the how. The rudder post extends upwardly through the deck and a manually operable steering mechanism indicated at :5 is adapted to be operatively connected to the top of this rudder post so that when the hydraulic steering engine and its controlling apparatus hereinafter to be described become for any reason out of order, the ship v may be steered manually by such mechanism.

lhe steering post 12 extends through the chamber in which the steering engine is located and secured to this post within the chamber is a steering yoke 14-. r This yoke is provided with longitudinal vertical slots 15 and 15 equidistantly spaced from the pivotal axis of the rudder post and slidably fitting in these slots are blocks 16 and 16 which are rotatably supported on the upper and lower ends of pins 17 and 17 which are in turn supported by the ends of piston rods 21 and 21. The lateral arms 18 and 18 of cross-heads 19 and 19, slidably mounted on guide rods 20 and 20, are bolted to" the outer ends of the piston rods. The yoke 1 l is, ot course, horizontally slotted to receive arms 18 and 18. The piston rods extend into cylinders and 22 respectively, and have pistons 23 and 23 secured to their, ends, these pistons being freely reciprocable within the cylinders The pistons are adapt-' ed to be driven in opposite directions simultaneously by motive fluid from a pump and to therefore rotate the yoke 14 and hence the rudder in either direction, the blocks 16 and 16 sliding in slots 15 and 15 as the yoke is moved, and the piston rods and blocks. beingconstr ained to move'in Straight-lines. and,

the engines iltlltl pui'np boiler, and

valve casing 27 is divided by a horizontal middle partition 28 and by vertical partitions into six chambers or compartments, three o'l thesecompartments being above the n'iiddle partition 28 and three below. These. coinpartn'ients are indicated by the numerals E"; 31, 3:2, 33, and 35. The conduits 25 and leading from and to the fluid pump open into coinpartn'ients 50 and respectively. The cou'ipartment 32 is connected by means ol pipes 36, 3'? and 38 with the right hand end of cylinder and the left hand end olcylinder (Figure 3) and con'ipartnient is connected to the opposite ends respectively, of the two cylinders, by

:iipes 39, 40 and Connecting con'ipartn ent 30 with compart'mcnts J1 anc and also connecting coinpartuient' 3S'with compartments 3% and 85 are ports normally'closed by valves -12, 43, ll and 35' respectively, each of these valves being normally held iuclosed position by a spring located beneath the lower end of the valve stem, clearly illustrated in lfiigiiret'10,'tlie valves extending up'vardly through suitable packing boxes to the exterior of the valve casing and having their upper ends in the same plane to be acted on by levers 413 of a rocker rotatably mounted on a shaft t? suported on the top of the valve casing. iihisrocker has an upwardly extending operating'arm l S, the arnent of the rocker relative to the valve being such that when it is in central n, as shown in Figure 8, the torn alve opeiatin'g 'l'evers 46 are in Contact with the upper ends of the valve. stems which they are intended to operate. Upon the movement of the operating arm in either direc-- tion, it will be seen that two of the valves will be opened, for instance, if arm 4:8 is moved to the right (Figure 8) levers act on the valve stems of valves and these valves to open t of the springs and to ne compartments 30 and into co'nlnution with each other a id also compartmen s 33 and 3 5 into comnuinication.

Assuming the operating arm 48 to be n'ioved in the manner described and valves and 455 to be opened. it'will be seen that the fluid pressure'whlch is already existent in coin'partmentSG will be communicated mbacl; press re and save its mediately to compartment 3:2 and thence through pipes 36, 37 and 38 to the right hand end of cylinder 22 and the left hand end 01 cylinder 22 and that the left hand end of cylinder 22 and the ri ht hand end of cy'inder 22, which communicate respectively by pipes l0 and ll with con'ipartment 35 ot' the valve casing will be brought into communication with the intake ot' pump 2? through chamber 33 and pipe As a result of pressure being applied on the right hand tide oi the piston in cylinder 22 and hand side ol the piston of cylinder l the pressures in the opposite ends 0'! ilinoers respectively being relieved, the yoke l-l and hence the rudder will be rotated through an angle which is determined by the extent of IDOTQHIGIlll ol the operating arm 48, It, instead of movingoperating arm to the right it is moved rection. The pump is. operating continuouslv and n order to cut down the V bearings when the valves in valve casing 2]" ar. closed, a hv-oass et-t is provided, this by-pass havin a needle valve 50 by neans of which the rate of llow ot' l luid therethrough may no con rolled. The fluid impelled by the rcciprocatino pistons ol the'pump has a constantly v' 'ying pressure but it has been found that the provision of the lay-pass preve'its completely the generation of excessive and destructive pressures inthe system. The fluid used is preferably a. non-compressible liquid such as water or oil, and to supply to the system liquid to replace any which may have osca -d therefrom by leakage, a tank til is pro died, this tank being; located, as shown in Figure 1, above the level of the engine and being connected by two i t. 2 "t and 53 to the pipe 13. ii. check valv l in pipe prevents back flow of fluid into the tank due to the pressure created by the pump when operating, and valve 55 in pipe 53 allows the liquid to escape into the tank when tor any reason press re oi the fluid in the system has become excessive which may occur beof expansion through heat or a ret of other causes. iisscciated with the steering engine above described is a teleniotor for ellecting movement ot the operating arm 48 of We rocker which opens the valves. The details of this telemotor lorin no part of the present invention and it may be of any well known type, for instance, that illustrated. described and claimed in the patent to John F. Jolmston. issued April 29, 1919, No. 1,302,376. The transmitter of the telemotor,

iii

is located in the pilot house 13 and is indicated at T in the drawings, the receiver thereof is positioned immediately above the steering engine and is supported thereon, this receiver being indicated by R. Connecting the transmitter and the receiver are fluid conduits 56 and 57 preferably of drrnvn copper tubing, seamless and with a minimum number of brazed or soldered joints so that leakage is practically prevented. The rotation of the hand wheel 58 in the pilot house causes a pressure to be exerted upon a noncompressible liquid in one of the tubes 56 or 57 and as a result of this pressure, the member 59 of the receiver is moved in one direction or the other against the pressure of springs 60. The member 59 is pivotally connected to a link 61 which is pivoted at 62 to one end of a lever 63 which has its other end pivotally connected at 64 to link 65 pivotally connected to the yoke 14. The middle point of the lever 63 is pivotally connected at 66 to a reciprocable rod 67 slidably mounted in pedestals 68 supported on the top of the valve casing. This rod 67 has a central opening 69 which receives the ball shaped end 70 of operating arm 48 so that whenever the rod 67 is longitudinally moved in its bearings, the operating arm is also moved and two of the valves either opened or closed, the pair of valves thus moved depending upon the direction of movement of the rod 67.

Assuming the member 59 of the receiver of the telemotor to be moved toward the right (Figure 3) by the operation of the transmitter it will be seen that the rod 67 will be also moved to the right, the lever 63 pivoting about point 64. As a result the rudder is turned to the right by the steering engine in the manner heretofore fully described. If member 59 of the receiver is moved toward the left, the reverse action takes place and the rudder will be moved toward the left. Assuming, however, that member 59 and hence operating arm 48 have been moved toward the right. that is, in a counter'clockwise direction, it will be seen that as the rudder and the yoke turn the link 65 and the pivot 64 will move toward the left (Figure 3), the lever 68 pivoting about pivot 62 and that this action will continue until rod 67 has been returned to neutral position, returning at the same time the rocker 48 to its central position and closing the valves. \Vith the valves closed all movement of the steering engine ceases and the rudder is held in the position to which it has been turned. By the use of lever 68 and link 65 therefore the action of the steering engine is automatically stopped at the proper time, with the rudder in a position which has been determined by the extent of rotation ofthe steering wheel 58. I

In case the telemotor becomes inopera at 81 and having an arm 82 provided with an aperture 88. The arm 82 overlies a lever 84 also pivoted on member 81, this arm being provided with a circular aperture adapted to register with aperture 83 of arm 82, and being connected by means of link 85 to the end of lever 62. Lever'84 is rotatable entirely independently of segment 80 and arm 82, but a pin may be inserted through aperture 83 and the aperture in lever 84 which is aligned therewith, to lock these members together for simultaneous movement. It is, therefore, apparent that by means of a pin the hand wheel 78 may be connected to or disconnected from the lever 62 as desired, and that wnile the steering may be accomplished entirely by means of the hand wheel in the pilot house, yet in case of need the steering may be entirely done by hand wheel 78 by merely inserting a pin, as before described, locking the members 82 and 84 together.

To prevent the straining or damaging of the cylinders 22 and 22 whenever a wave or floating obstacle strikes the rudder and tends to rotate the yoke 14, the ends of each cylinder are connected by two pipes 87 and 88, relief valves 89 and 90, clearly shown in Figure 6, being provided so that whenever the pressure in one end of the cylinder exceeds a predetermined amount, liquid may pass from this end to the opposite end, relieving the pressure and allowing the piston to move somewhat.

The design and arrangement of the several parts of the invention may be considerably changed within the scope of this invention which is not limited to the exact embodiment described and illustrated.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In steering apparatus for vessels, in combination, a. rudder steering engine, a continuously operating reciprocating pump of the constant displacement type, pressure and suction lines connected to the pump, controlling valve mechanism between the lines and the engine, whereby fluid may be supplied to the latter from the pressure line and exhausted therefrom to the suction line, a by-pass connecting the lines, and an adjustable valve in the by-pass.

2. In steering apparatus for vessels, in combination, a rudder steering engine of the hydraulic type, a continuously operating 4 5 meshing l'di) llU reciprocating hydraulic pump of the constant displacement type, pressure and suction lines connected to the pump, controlling valve mecha ism between the lines and the engine, n'hereby fluid may be supplied to the lett r from the pressure line and e liausted therefrom to the suction line, a bypass connecting the lines, and an adjustable needle valve in the by-pass.

3. 111 a steering apparatus for vessels,v in combination, a rudder, a reciprocating pump, pressure and return lines connected to the pump, first and second operating oylindcrs, o rating pistons in the cylinders connected to the rudder, a valve housing, a pressure chamber in the housing connected to the pressure line, an exhaust chamber in the housing connected to the return line, first and second chambers in the housing connected by ports to the pressure chamber, first and second valves for controlling the ports, the first chamber coimmmicating with the for-e end of the first cylinder and the aft end of the second cylinder and the sec- 0nd chamber communicating with the aft end of the first cylinder and the fore end of the second cylinder, third and fourth chambers in said housing connected by ports to the exhaust chamber, third and fourth valves for controlling the last-named ports, the third chamber communicating with the aft end oi the first cylinder and the fore end of the second cylinder and the fourth chamb r communicating With the fore end of the first cylinder and the aft end of the second cylinder, a member for opening the first and third valves when moved in one direction and for opening the second and fourth valves when moved in the other direction, a lever connected to said member, a second lever connected at an intermediate point to said first lever, one end of the second lever being connected to the rudder, and operating means connected to the other end of the second lever for securing operation of said valves.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature. cua sToFFER CHRZSTOFFERSEN. 

